It’s hot outside! Let’s bring the outdoors inside. I’ve stumbled upon quite a few cactus-inspired designs that prick my funny bone.

Sitting on thorns? Maurizio Galante’s Tatoo Cactus Pouf, above and below, is a grouping of cactuses that form a single sofa.

Offering up a little visual play and irony, Galante’s succulent seating is filled with high-density polyurethane foam supported with an internal steel frame, then covered in a bi-elastic technical fabric using a photographic print that won’t hurt your derrière.

Then there’s the real thing that you wouldn’t want to sit on…

Photo: Pixdaus

Photo: Cactus Lover

Following are some cool cactus things, some that actually made it into production, and others that were just sparks of inspiration:

Cactus Bookcase

So they won’t desert their books and toys…this 48-inch tall metal cactus bookcase. $399 at Amazon.

Through the Sitting Glass

Challenging our perceptions of furniture and design, Deger Cengiz’s Terrarium Chair examines how visual data affects a user’s experience by eliciting an emotional response that is temporarily discomforting and at the same time challenging. The user knows the cactus is safely under the glass, yet might experience a slight hesitation before sitting down–tempted both to sit and avoid it.

Plant Yourself Down: Chair as Planter

For Italian manufacturer Nonogiorno, designer Simone Ruffato has folded a tri-color piece of plexiglass into a chair planter, the Conquera Chair, which was exhibited at this year’s Salone di Mobile design fair.

Prickly Pair

In a juxtaposition of Mexican and European esthetics, Mexican designer Valentina Gonzalez Wohlers blends a classical French Louis XV oval chair from the Rococo period with the Nopal cactus to create a fun, whimsical set of chairs that symbolize the artist’s Mexican heritage and national pride.

Desert Cactus Pouf

Sanne van den Hoogen, a student in textile design at the Academy of Fine Arts in Maastricht in the Netherlands, based her knitted POUF, above, on the shape of a cactus flower. Check out this other cactus pouf, The BUX, by the Dutch design team Dutch Summer that we posted about last year.

Cuddly Cactus

I’m a softie for this 13 inch Silly Succulent Prickly Pear Cactus with its cute orange blossom and fur. $22.50 on Amazon.

Oh For the Love of Cacti!

Artist Xiang Yun’s cactus chair and ottoman, above, for the China Chair Project, expresses her “lifelong love of cacti.”

Cactus Baskets From Garden Hoses

More irony since cactus requires little water: Artist Brian Jewett created these cool baskets from garden hoses, cable ties, and valve handles.

Woven Cactus Basket

This adorable cactus basket won’t poke you. Created in collaboration with Abel Macias, made of water hyacinth on an iron frame. (Pom-pom accents sold individually.)$129 at Havenly.